“Greater Love Has No Man Than This”

FRANÇOIS, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses living in Paris, France, is well acquainted with the words of Jesus Christ: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12, 13, Revised Standard Version) But little did François realize when he awoke on the morning of last September 22 that those words of Jesus would take on new meaning for him before the day was through.

That evening, as is his custom, he went to the meeting of the Paris Center Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. For the past 25 years the congregation has met in a rented hall situated on the fourth floor of an old office building. The building is located on an attractive square at the end of the famous Avenue de l’Opera, near the Louvre Museum.

Serving as an attendant, François stood near the entrance door ready to welcome any latecomers. The speaker was about halfway through his Bible discourse, when suddenly François smelled something burning. Then he observed a wisp of smoke coming under the entrance door. François opened the door and saw a green suitcase just outside​—with smoke coming out of it.

Grabbing the suitcase, François rushed down the three flights of stairs but tripped as he reached the foot of the stairway. The suitcase dropped, opened, and an orange plastic petrol can fell out. Quickly he closed the smoking suitcase and, carrying it in his arms, ran out of the building and rushed across the street, narrowly avoiding being struck by a passing car. He threw the suitcase into the water basin of the fountain in the square. Then he ran back to get the petrol can, fearing that it might be a bomb too, and rushed back to the fountain and also threw it into the water.

By this time two of the elders of the congregation, who had left the meeting to see what was going on, joined him at the fountain. Since smoke was still coming out of the partly submerged suitcase, one of the elders said that they should immediately phone the police. They had walked only a few steps from the fountain when the bomb exploded. The windows facing the square were shattered, and several people were injured slightly by the falling glass. François and the elders with him were spattered with mud and water from the fountain but were uninjured. The parapet of the fountain apparently screened them from the blast.

Upstairs in the Kingdom Hall across the street the windows were broken, and some in the audience were thrown to the floor by the blast. But not a single person in attendance was injured. Most of the flying glass was stopped by the heavy curtains.

The speaker for the evening encouraged those present to keep calm. After a fervent prayer of thanks had been offered to Jehovah for his protection, the meeting continued. Soon the police and the fire brigade were on the scene. However, they waited until the meeting was over before making their inquiry and before cleaning up the broken glass in the hall.

The officials congratulated the Witnesses for their composure, and particularly François for his brave act. They were unanimous in saying that those present probably owed their lives to his presence of mind and quick action. If the bomb had exploded on the wooden staircase outside the door and the can of gasoline had set the place on fire, they would have been trapped by the flames.

The bomb attack was widely reported by the French media. Even a Swiss newspaper reported on it, under the headline “Astounding Composure.” As for François, he asked for and received police protection from the TV and press reporters who wished to put him in the limelight. When questioned, he humbly stated: “I realized that our lives were in danger. So I thought it was better for me to die alone than for all of us to be killed.”

One of the policemen told him: “It’s a miracle that you are still alive. Your God must have protected you. You are a genuine witness of Jehovah.”

At the time of writing, the police were still trying to find out who was responsible for the bomb.